In regular shape microstrip antenna, for the given feed point location exciting the fundamental resonant mode in the patch, various higher order orthogonal resonant modes are also excited and thus they are the main cause of cross polar radiation in the radiation pattern at the fundamental mode. Many techniques have been reported in the literature, like the use of slots placed below the patch edge, placement of shorting posts, to reduce the cross polar fields. These techniques primarily alter the second and higher order mode resonance frequency with reference to the fundamental mode. This paper discusses and compares various methods of cross polar reduction techniques as applicable to rectangular and equilateral triangular microstrip antennas. The shorting posts and slot cut technique have been considered in the study. The study reveals that placement of shorting posts (single as well as clusters) on the patch yields optimum results in terms of cross polar reduction. In rectangular patch, placement of the clusters of shorting posts achieves cross polar reduction by 26 dB against the design without the shorting posts or slots on the ground plane, whereas the shorting post design with equilateral triangular geometry achieves reduction by 22 dB. An experimental verification has been carried out in all the designs and they show close agreement against the simulated results.